1. Field of The Invention
This invention relates to apparatus for guiding a sheet in a corrugated cardboard sheet box-making machine, and more particularly, to apparatus for effectively and efficiently accommodating corrugated cardboard sheet of different thicknesses.
2. Description of The Prior Art
In the making of corrugated cardboard sheet boxes, machines are provided for successively performing various operations on the corrugated sheet cardboard. For example, machines are provided for feeding the sheet through a printing operation and then through a slitting and scoring operation. These machines include feed rolls for moving the sheet through the successive operations and sheet guiding and supporting means by which the sheet is guided as it is progressively moved through the box-making machine by the feed rolls.
In the normal operation of such machines, corrugated cardboard sheet of differing thicknesses may be fed in successive runs. In order to accommodate such board of differing thickness it is necessary to adjust correspondingly the gap between the feed rolls through which the board is fed.
In order to effect satisfactory operation of the machine it is desirable that the difference in height between the upper periphery of the lower feed roll and the upper surface of the corresponding guide plate be maintained at a constant value. However, in conventional machines when adjustment of the feed rolls is made the position of the guide plate is not usually adjusted because of the time involved in obtaining access for the adjustment of the guide plates and the time for effecting such adjustment. In conventional machines such adjustment requires a substantial amount of effort and a corresponding amount of time and hence adversely affects production. On the other hand, if the adjustment of the guide plates is not made in general correspondence with the adjustment of the feed roll, sheets of smaller thickness for example are not fed in a proper manner to the feed rolls and timing errors occur in the printing and ruling of the cardboard sheet, resulting in the production of products lacking the desired accuracy of finishing.
In accordance with this invention, apparatus is provided which in a simple manner effects the adjustment of the position of the guide plates simultaneously with the adjustment of the position of the feed roll so that a constant difference between the level of the upper periphery of the adjustable feed roll and the upper surface of the guide plate is maintained. Moreover, this adjustment is made by a single adjusting means which, upon movement thereof, effects simultaneously the adjustment of the position of the feed roll and the adjustment of the position of the guide plate by corresponding amounts. By this arrangement the difference in height between the guide plate and the upper periphery of the adjustable feed roll is maintained at a constant value and corrugated sheet of varying thickness is fed with satisfactory speed and timing through the apparatus, resulting in improved quality of the finished product.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide apparatus of this type wherein adjustment of the feed rolls and of the guide plate is effected simultaneously and in substantially the same amount by a single adjusting means so as to maintain a constant difference between the level of the upper periphery of the adjustable feed roll and the upper surface of the guide plate regardless of the thickness of the corrugated cardboard sheet being supplied to the machine.
It is another object of this invention to effect this adjustment in a simple, easy and efficient manner without the necessity of opening any portion of the apparatus to secure work space and both the quantity and quality of the manufactured products are increased
In describing the invention in detail later in the specification a detailed illustration and description of a conventional corrugated cardboard sheet box-making machine is set forth so that the problems of the prior art and the advantages of the apparatus of this invention can be better appreciated.